Scott Brown and the GOP’s Forward Pass

Time, February 1, 2010: Karen Tumulty reported from Boston on “Scott Brown’s surprise Senate win in the Bay State (Massachusetts).”

Brown, a likeable candidate for the Senate seat, worked hard in the campaign in contrast to his Democratic opponent, Martha Coakley. He also campaigned “on a promise to be the 41st senator who would give the Republicans the power to block… the health care bill…”

As the gap in the polls began to close, “the National Republican Senatorial Committee quietly dispatched staffers to Massachusetts and shifted $500,000 to the state party… ‘It was a long shot,’ says a strategist, but there was a very real opportunity for a forward pass.’ That pass connected and Scott Brown has given his party a brand-new playbook.”

I wonder if the staffer, in this case. played football or is a fan of American football. There are three sports idioms in the last two sentences above: “a long shot” connotes difficulty; “a forward pass is usually a football term used when the quarterback throws the football towards the goal line; “a brand-new playbook” is a sports term for new strategies.